


Alter Egos

by Chrystie, kate882



Series: Aokuro Week 2016 [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, AoKuro Week 2016, Day One, M/M, alternate universe-heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 20:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6823570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate882/pseuds/kate882
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko likes Aomine. Aomine likes Phantom. Phantom doesn't like Blue Lightning. It's a bit of a mess, considering Kuroko is Phantom and Aomine is Blue Lightning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alter Egos

“Mai-chan or Phantom?” Kuroko asked, since Aomine was still talking about the hero, and he was hoping that the question might get him to stop.

Aomine stopped mid-sentence about how much he liked the Phantom’s eyes when Kuroko brought up the two choices. He stared at Kuroko aghast; it was almost as if  he had just asked him to pick between air and water. “Tetsu, you can’t ask me that! They’re both awesome in their own ways!”

“Too bad. I asked.” Kuroko replied with a shrug, taking a sip of his milkshake as he waited for Aomine’s answer, pretty sure that it would be Mai-chan since he’d been obsessed with her since middle school.

Aomine put on a pensive face, thinking hard about which he thought was better. After a good three minutes he finally decided on an answer, “Gotta say Phantom. Like Mai-chan’s super hot, and her boobs are great, but Phantom’s hot too and he’s also brave and cool and has a really nice ass and...” Aomine went back into his rant about all the great things he loved about the superhero.

Well, that had backfired. Kuroko settled in to listen to Aomine go on and on about the hero again, entertaining -not for the first time- the idea of telling him that Kuroko was the one he was talking about, just to see his reaction, but reminding himself that doing that could put Aomine in danger, so it was best not to. After another minute of Aomine’s long winded list, Kuroko started spacing out, just watching Aomine talk as he drank his milkshake.

“Hey, Tetsu… Tetsu?” Aomine figured Kuroko had spaced off at some point during his rant, so he poked him in the nose to get his attention. “Tetsu, don’t start ignoring me, asshole.”

Kuroko blinked a few times, going a little cross eyed to focus in on Aomine’s finger. “I’m not ignoring you.” He protested.

“Liar, you so were.” Aomine playfully flicked Kuroko’s nose before retracting his hand. “Coulda just told me you weren’t interested in listening to me talk about my dumb crush.”

“Ow!” Kuroko rubbed his nose. “It’s not that I’m not interested,” He wasn’t. It was really weird hearing his crush go on and on about him to him while not meaning the him that he was talking to. Even just the thought was weird. “It’s just that you’ve said all of that to me. Many times. And you don’t even know him.”

“That’s not...” Aomine shut his mouth before he could reveal things he wasn’t supposed to. “I mean, it’s not weird to have a crush on someone that’s famous. I think that’s pretty normal, and it’s not like I’ve reached the point where I hunt down magazines and shit with his face on it.”

“You do that to Mai-chan and you still picked Phantom, so I don’t think that point is very far away.” Kuroko said, frowning as he tried to take another sip of his milkshake and found it empty.

“I dunno, we’ll see. I’d probably do it if I got to see his entire face. I’m pretty sure it’s fucking gorgeous.”

“I doubt you’ll be seeing that any time soon. That’s the point of the whole ‘secret identity’ thing. Besides, if you’re just into super heroes, why don’t you lament about your inability to see that Blue Lightning guy’s face?” Kuroko asked.

Aomine awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “Well, uhh...” He couldn’t exactly say that it was because he saw Blue Lightning’s face every time he looked in the mirror. “I just think Phantom’s hotter? Like, Blue Lightning’s hot but have you _seen_ Phantom?”

“Every time I turn on the news.” Kuroko said dryly. “Aomine-kun, will you buy me another milkshake?”

“You sure you can finish it? You’re usually good with just one.” Despite what he said, Aomine was already getting out of his chair, reaching over to take Kuroko’s cup to throw it away for him.

“I know, but I skipped breakfast today.” Kuroko replied. He’d woken up to the sound of sirens and decided to go help out with that instead of eating before class.

Aomine frowned, “Dude, why? You’re getting a fucking burger, no arguments.”

“But-” Kuroko tried to argue anyway.

“No buts. You’re eating something, even if i have to hand feed it to you.” Aomine headed towards the counter to order a burger and milkshake for Kuroko, throwing the empty milkshake cup into the trash on his way there. He placed the tray of food in front of Kuroko and looked at him expectantly.

Kuroko sighed and took a bite of the burger to appease him before he started sipping on the milkshake, trying to subtly push the burger closer to Aomine as he sipped at the drink.

“Don’t even, Tetsu. I will hold that burger up to your mouth if I have to.”

“I don’t need it.” Kuroko said around his straw, pushing it closer to Aomine.

Aomine sighed and got out of his chair across from Kuroko to plop himself down into the one next to him. Wrapping an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders, he picked up the burger and held it up to Kuroko’s face. “Eat, Tetsu! Food is good for you!”

Kuroko gave him an unimpressed look. “Aomine-kun, you are not my mother.”

“And thank god I’m not. I don’t think I could live with a kid who refuses to eat.” Aomine took Kuroko’s milkshake from Kuroko with the hand wrapped around him and brought the burger closer to his face. “You get it back when you finish half the burger.”

Kuroko rolled his eyes, and took the burger away from Aomine. If Aomine was going to make him eat it he would at least eat it on his own. “Happy?” He asked after taking a bite.

“Yes,” Aomine grinned. He leaned over him to take a sip from the milkshake and wrinkled his nose a bit. “It’s good, but still too sweet. Dunno how you have so much of this stuff.”

Kuroko’s cheeks took on a faintly pink tint at how close Aomine got when he leaned over him and the cute face he made after drinking the shake. “Then stop drinking it. It’s wasted on you since you don’t appreciate it properly.”

“I try it every time ‘cause you look like you love it so much and every time it’s still too sweet,” Aomine sighed, taking another sip despite himself.

“Stop that! You don’t even like it!” Kuroko tried to push Aomine away.

“Only way you can stop me is to finish your burger,” Aomine smirked down at Kuroko before taking another slow sip.

“You said half before!” Kuroko continued to try to push Aomine away.

“You know I think this is starting to grow on me,” Aomine mused, blatantly ignoring what Kuroko had said.

“You’re a terrible friend, and I hope you never meet that Phantom guy.” Kuroko said before taking another reluctant bite.

“Hey! I’m a great friend! I’m keeping you alive!” Aomine handed the milkshake back to Kuroko after noticing that Kuroko had eaten nearly half of the burger. He would be fair for now. “And I _will_ meet Phantom. Someday.” He didn’t mention that someday was probably sooner than Kuroko thought, considering he had a somewhat unofficial partnership with the guy when they were out protecting the city.

“I hope not. If you’re meeting him that means you did something stupid to put yourself in danger.” Kuroko flicked his forehead and started drinking his shake again.

“Uhhh, yeah, right, I guess that makes sense...” at least it did to Kuroko and that was fine with Aomine. “I dunno, I hope I can meet him one day without possibly dying.”

“Good luck with that.” Kuroko said, finishing off his drink. “Ready to go?”

“You’re not gonna finish the rest of the burger, are you?” Aomine sighed, taking back the arm he wrapped around Kuroko to pick up the abandoned burger. “Sometimes I wonder why I try.”

“I wonder that a lot.” Kuroko replied, getting up and throwing away the empty cup.

* * *

 “You’re late, Blue.” Kuroko said, becoming visible next to the other hero.

“I didn’t know we had a set meeting time for these. If I had known these were dates then I woulda been here ages ago.” Aomine flashed a charming smile, even though he knew it wouldn’t really have much of an effect on Phantom.

“I prefer dates to not be at crime scenes. And to be with people I like.” Kuroko answered. “The criminal is running this way. I’m going to trip them, you restrain them until the police catch up.” He instructed.

“That’s cold, Phantom. Just one date is all I’m asking for,” Aomine lamented as he watched the criminal try to run away.

“No thank you.” Kuroko disappeared from sight again, stepping away from Blue Lightning to move into the criminal’s path, holding out his foot and causing the man to fall to the ground after running right into it.

Aomine was by Phantom’s side and pinning the guy down to the ground in a flash. “Doesn’t have to be a date. Maybe a one night stand. Your ass is _really_ nice,” Aomine continued their conversation as if they weren’t in the middle of stopping a criminal.

The man under Aomine opened his mouth, probably to question what the fuck he was going on about, before letting out a startled yelp as Kuroko became visible.

“You're being inappropriate.” He told the other hero with a disapproving frown.

Aomine pushed the guy down to the ground, pulling his arms behind his back and half sitting on him. “I’m just saying it’s nice.”

“And I'm just saying that you're not being appropriate. Try and be a bit more professional. We are still in the middle of a job since the police haven't taken him into their custody yet.” Kuroko replied.

“Doesn't mean I can't flirt.” In the distance, Aomine could hear the wail of police sirens headed towards them.

“It means you _shouldn't_.” Kuroko said, looking towards the sound.

From underneath Aomine, the criminal almost breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank god. I rather be in jail than be with flash the horny hero any longer.”

“Hey!” Aomine put a little more weight onto the man, pressing his face to the ground, “I may be horny, but have you _seen_ this guy? He's fucking amazing!” Aomine was more upset by the fact that the criminal didn't see _why_ he'd be horny rather than the fact that he was called horny.

“Please don't advertise me to criminals.” Kuroko said with clear distaste.

“What? I’m just telling people how great you are.” The police cars arrived, pulling up near them. Aomine let a cop replace him in detaining the criminal, getting off of him in the process. He watched as they cuffed the man and pulled him away before turning back to Phantom, “So, you wanna make my dreams come true before we part?”

“Not particularly.” Kuroko brushed him off, starting to walk off the scene. “I've got things to do.” If he was lucky, he might make it to class on time.

Aomine’s lips pulled into a smirk, a mischievous glint crossing his eyes, “So what I’m hearing is, if you were free, you’d totally be up for it.”

“I don't recall saying that.” Kuroko waved at him before disappearing from sight, quickly moving to get to his dorm to change and for class.

“You didn’t not say it!” Aomine yelled out in the general direction Phantom had disappeared in. Looks like he wasn’t skipping his class like he was hoping to. He took his time getting to his apartment to change, knowing that he’d make it to his class regardless, and if he was late, he didn’t particularly care too much, even if Kuroko would give him the same lecture he always did when he was late for things.

* * *

“Aomine-kun, you're late.” Kuroko said when his friend walked into class.

“Yup. What else is new?” Aomine plopped down in the seat next to Kuroko, pulling out his notebook, more for show than to actually write notes.

Kuroko rolled his eyes. “You know that you're paying to be here, right?” He asked.

“No, I’m paying for the degree I get for being here for four years. Besides between you and Satsuki, I can’t fail.” Aomine flashed Kuroko a bright smile to say that he was completely fine with how he was doing things.

“You're going to be in trouble when we decide that we’re tired of showing you our notes.” Kuroko told him, despite knowing that he wasn't going to let Aomine fail their general classes, and Momoi wouldn't let him fail the criminology ones that they were taking.

“But the both of you won’t. You guys worry too much to do that.” Aomine shot out a hand to ruffle Kuroko’s hair before he could protest.

“You know I don't like that.” Kuroko muttered, pushing his hair back down as much as he could.

“Then I guess it sucks that I really like to do that.” Aomine tried to do it again, but Kuroko batted his hand away, “You’re no fun.”

“I'm plenty of fun. That's why you hang out with me.” Kuroko said, turning his attention back to his notes.

Aomine stuck his tongue out at Kuroko before turning back to not paying attention to their monotone professor. He was actually somewhat surprised their professor hadn’t caught them talking, considering how openly they were doing it.

“So, what were you doing that kept you so long?” Kuroko asked when class was over and they were packing up their things.

Aomine froze like a deer in headlights, he hadn’t thought of a proper excuse to give Kuroko yet. “Uh…. I was… distracted by seeing Phantom? Like a picture of him being cool and stuff.” He wasn’t sure how good of an excuse that was.

“I don't think Phantom would want you to sacrifice your education for him.” Kuroko told him.

Aomine relaxed once he realized that Kuroko had bought it and slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Can’t help it when I love to stare.”

“I think you can help it, you just choose not to. You'll miss class for anything.”

“Can’t say you’re wrong there. Class is crap.”

“Class gets you the job you want.” Kuroko said with no real weight to the words since he was used to Aomine skipping.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” They lazily strolled out of their class, both not having classes for the rest of the day.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Kuroko asked as he walked alongside Aomine, but frowned as his phone chimed. Pulling it out he saw it was a news alert about a bank robbery. “Actually, I've gotta go. I have a study group to meet. They just rescheduled. Sorry.”

“Wait, what? Tetsu that’s-” he was cut off by the sound of his phone going off. Apparently a bank was being robbed, “Y’know what, it’s okay. Something came up for me too. I’ll see you later?”

Kuroko smiled and waved, heading towards his dorm. “We’ll hang out tomorrow then.” He called over his shoulder. He changed quickly and headed for the bank.

“Can't seem to stop running into you today.” He said when he spotted the other hero along the way. “How do you want to do this?”

Aomine slowed down to a human speed to accommodate for Phantom. “Heya hot stuff. I think the report said there were three people robbing the bank. I take out one, you take out one and whoever finishes first gets to take out the last guy?”

“Hostages, Blue. Hostages. You forget we aren't just dealing with bank robbers. We also deal with civilians.” Kuroko chided. “You use your speed to get them out, I'll distract the criminals, and then we go with your plan?”

“Ehhhh fine. This is why you’re the brains of this partnership.” Aomine waited for Phantom to slip in and waited to hear angry yelling from the criminals to rush in and help the hostages out as fast as he could. The second he got the last hostage out, he rammed into the criminal who was about to hit Phantom from behind. “Stay away from his hot ass.”

“I have the worst acquaintances.” Kuroko complained as he disappeared only to reappear behind another criminal and hit him upside the head hard enough to knock him out.

“We could always be _more_ than acquaintances.” Aomine knocked the last guy out and dropped him on top of the guy Phantom had knocked out, making a haphazard pile.

“I think I've rejected that offer numerous times.” Kuroko said, surveying the room for any more danger before deeming it clear.

Aomine sighed dramatically and leaned against the wall behind him, “One day I’ll get you to agree on a date. One day.”

“I don't foresee that day being in the near future.” Kuroko told him. “Besides, dates don't usually involve masks. I don't know about you, but I'm not eager to have people, even you, knowing who I am under the mask.”

“We could have a date in my room, keep the masks, lose the clothes. Not that you don’t look great in that skin tight outfit,” Aomine leered.

“I think I also rejected your one night stand offer.” Kuroko said flatly.

Aomine shrugged, pushing himself back upright, “Can’t blame a guy for... admiring you.”

“I think I can.” Kuroko replied, heading for the exit. “You do remind me of the person I’m interested in though. I guess I have bad taste.” He added over his shoulder.

“Hey! I’m gonna go the high road and take that as you think I’m attractive!” Aomine called after him as he disappeared.

* * *

Kuroko spaced out again as Aomine continued to go on and on about Phantom, and how he for some reason thought he had a chance.

“Like I think if I ever met him and really try, he might think I’m hot too or something and let’s face it, I’m pretty hot.” Aomine grinned at Kuroko who had that glossed over look in his eyes again. It for some reason happened a lot when he talked about Phantom. “Hey, Tetsu,” Aomine snapped his fingers in front of Kuroko’s face to wake him up from his spacing out, “Y’know what? I talk a lot about my crush, but I’m pretty in the dark about yours. Do you even like anyone right now?”

“Oh . . . no. You keep talking about your crush.” Kuroko said, shrinking back in his seat a bit and taking a large sip of his milkshake.

Aomine eyed him suspiciously before his eyes widened, “You _do_ like someone!” Aomine exclaimed a little too loudly, “Who?! Do I know him?! Is he an ass?! Do I have to beat him up at some point?!”

“Stop, stop! I said no. That means you don’t have to beat anyone up.” Kuroko said, holding his hands up in surrender as he felt his face heat up.

“You’re so shit at lying when you’re under pressure. You can tell me, y’know. I’m not gonna go threaten him outside his house.” Aomine thought about his statement for a second and then added, ”Well, I will if he hurts you, but I wouldn’t do it for no reason.”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter.” Kuroko said, ducking his head to hide his blush.

“No trust, Tetsu. I’m hurt.” There wasn’t really any hurt behind his words though. He reached over to ruffle Kuroko’s hair, “It’s okay though, you don’t have to tell me, so stop being so cute.”

Kuroko’s blush only darkened at Aomine calling him cute, and he started drinking from his milkshake again to try and distract himself, deciding that he didn’t need to answer Aomine.

Aomine was happy just looking at Kuroko’s cute blushing face, so he wasn’t too particularly bothered by the fact that Kuroko didn’t answer him. “Y’know I don’t see you like this too often, all flustered and shit. I kinda like it.”

“I do not. I hope you never see me like this again.” Kuroko muttered around his straw.

“But it’s cute! You never show this side of you.” Aomine poked him on the nose with a bright smile.

“Because I don’t like it.” Kuroko batted Aomine’s hand away.

Aomine chuckled lightly and pulled his hand back to rest his chin on it. “Well, either way, you don’t have to tell me who this guy is. Unless he hurts you. Then you have to tell me who he is and where he lives. Okay?”

“He’s not gonna hurt me. He doesn’t even like me.” Kuroko said rolling his eyes.

“Wha-?! Why not?! How are you sure?! You’re a fucking great guy! He’s fucking dumb if he doesn’t like you.” Aomine was offended on Kuroko’s behalf, how could this guy _not_ see how amazing his best friend was.

Kuroko shrugged. “Guess I’m not his type.” Well, he was, but that was a whole level of irony that he didn’t want to get into during this conversation.

“Then he’s fucking dumb and you deserve better.” Aomine frowned and crossed his arms across his chest with a huff of annoyance at this mystery guy.

“You’re dumb.” Kuroko replied, taking one of Aomine’s fries.

“Hey! I am not!” Aomine would have been more upset about Kuroko taking his fries but it made him happy seeing Kuroko actually eat something when they were out instead of just sipping on his milkshake.

Kuroko rolled his eyes. He’d basically just told Aomine it was him, but he certainly wasn’t going to point that out. “Sure you’re not, Aomine-kun.”

“Jerk. I was saying good things about you too,” there was no anger behind Aomine’s words though.

“I hang out with you. That does say good things about you.” Kuroko said as he took another fry.

Aomine sighed. “You’re lucky I like you,” he teased playfully.

“I know.” Kuroko said sincerely with a small smile.

Aomine felt a smile tug at his lips and a warm feeling pool in his stomach. He got up from his seat and sat down in the one next to Kuroko to wrap an arm around his shoulders. “I’m pretty lucky you like me too, right?”

“Of course.” Kuroko answered, letting himself rest his head on Aomine’s shoulder.

Aomine felt the weird warmth and fluttery feeling in his stomach increase but he decided he didn’t really mind it. He actually kind of liked it, even though he didn’t really know what it was. So he let himself rest his cheek against Kuroko’s head and simply enjoyed their moment.

Kagami walked through the door to Maji Burger, glanced at them and continued on his way to the counter to order. “Wow you guys look hella gay. Gayer than usual.”

Aomine glared at Kagami, refusing to move from his position with Kuroko. “Do you _have_ to kill the moment?”

“Yep. That’s my job. Gotta make sure people like you aren’t getting into Kuroko’s pants. He can do better.” Kagami said, sitting across from them with his tray of burgers.

“Well I’d be a better pick than you! And it doesn’t matter anyway, Tetsu’s got someone he likes, right Tetsu?”

“Yeah, I know. Dude’s a fucking dumbass.” Kagami said, rolling his eyes, and ignoring the glare that Kuroko sent him. “I don’t approve.”

“Wait, how bad is this guy? And why do _you_ know who this guy is? Tetsu, you told him and not me?!” Aomine had a mixed look of worry and betrayal.

“I didn’t tell him anything. He figured it out on his own.” Kuroko told him.

“How? He’s got the smarts of a basketball wielding monkey.” Aomine wasn’t too sure he believed Kuroko on that, but he didn’t think he would lie to him about it.

Kuroko shrugged. “He just did.”

“It’s alright though. The idiot hasn’t figured out that Kuroko likes him, so I don’t have to worry about threatening him or anything yet.” Kagami said around a bite of burger.

“Well Tetsu’s not too open with his expressions and how he feels so he might not unless Tetsu tells him,” Aomine shrugged despite Kuroko’s head still being on his shoulder.

“Might not even if Kuroko did tell him.” Kagami muttered.

“You’re being harsh.” Kuroko argued.

“Not even a little exaggerating.” Kagami replied.

Aomine looked back and forth between the two of them, confused, “Am I ever gonna figure out who this guy is? He sounds like an idiot. Why do you like him?”

“I have bad taste.” Kuroko answered while Kagami burst out laughing.

Aomine only got more confused and was briefly reminded of his last encounter with Phantom. He pushed the memory away, lest he accidentally reveal things he didn’t want to. “I don’t understand how you fell for a dumbass.”

“I’m friends with both of you. They just seem to be the types of people I hang out with.” Kuroko replied.

“Hey!” they both yelled in tandem, Kagami’s coming out a little muffled from his burger.

Kuroko just laughed and continued to drink his shake.

* * *

Aomine had been walking home pretty late at night, and for some stupid reason, decided to cut through an alleyway as a short cut. Needless to say, not long after he entered the alley, some asshole had ‘cornered’ him with a knife pointed at him, demanding his wallet. Aomine simply stared at him bored and unmoving. “Wow, I’m so fucking scared,” he said dryly.

“Give me your money, kid, and you walk out of here.” The robber said, inching the knife closer to Aomine’s throat.

Kuroko had been patrolling around the city invisibly and froze when he saw his friend with a knife to his throat. The shock only stopped him for a moment before he snuck up behind the man holding the knife invisibly, and grabbed his wrist, pinning it behind his back and twisting until the knife was dropped. He then pushed the guy to the ground and kicked his head hard enough to knock him out before turning visible and facing Aomine with concern. “Are you okay?”

At the sight of Phantom, Aomine’s eyes lit up and first instinct was to start flirting with him like he always did, which he almost did before he realized he wasn’t in his Blue Lightning get up, and Phantom might get a little put off by him. So, with an awkward but excited smile on his face, he managed a very lame, “Um… hi.”

Kuroko’s concern only seemed to grow at the lack of answer and he stepped closer. “He didn’t hurt you, right?”

“Huh? What?... Oh! No, I’m fine. He didn’t really get that close to me with the knife.” Aomine did an odd kind of gesture to his neck to show that it was completely unharmed, “See?”

Kuroko relaxed immediately. “That’s good. I’m really glad you're safe.” He offered Aomine a tiny, relieved, smile.

Aomine felt his heart flutter slightly just from the smile. Phantom never smiled at him like that when he was out as Blue Lightning. “I-um-you smile pretty,” he accidentally blurted out in a small fit of nervousness. “I mean-! It’s just that uh…” He hadn’t expected it to feel this different without his mask. Without it, it felt like he was meeting a celebrity which, in a way, he was.

Kuroko let out a small laugh. “Thank you.” He replied. “Would you like me to walk you home? It's a bit late for it to be safe to wander around.” The offer slipped out without his permission, and he was sure Aomine wouldn't shut up about it next time they talked.

Aomine’s face lit up with a large smile, “Yeah! I mean if you don’t mind.” Aomine didn’t even care that he technically did not need an escort home and was fully capable of taking care of himself, should he be attacked again. He didn’t think he needed to care when there was the prospect of being with Phantom longer, and Phantom not rejecting him constantly.

Kuroko nodded. “Alright then, lead the way.” He said.

Aomine nodded and stiffly walked to the end of the alley with Phantom, not sure what to say or do. “Oh, right! I’m Aomine Daiki, by the way.” Aomine held his hand out towards Phantom, not really meeting his eyes due to nervousness.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aomine-san.” Kuroko shook the offered hand, shaking off the feeling of this being weird, since he’d known Aomine for years. “I’m Phantom.”

“Ah, yeah, I know,” Aomine awkwardly laughed, “I’m kinda a fan… You look a lot more hot in real life than in pictures.” Aomine felt his face grow slightly warm. Maybe he should stop talking altogether because he was obviously too much of an idiot without his mask around Phantom.

Kuroko's face felt a bit warmer and he hoped that the mask and dark lighting outside would help hide it. “Um, thank you, Aomine-san.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward laugh.

“I think I’m gonna stop talking now before I say anything else stupid.” Aomine tried to hide part of his face in his sweater, hoping that the excuse that it was cold would work if Phantom asked, even if it wasn’t particularly cold out at all.

“No, it’s fine, really. I’m used to it from Blue.” Kuroko told him. “So, what were you doing out so late anyway? You look like a college student, so I’m going to guess a party?”

Aomine laughed a little awkwardly at the mention of his alter ego. He apparently needed to be less obvious. “Nah, no party tonight. I was planning on dropping by my friend’s dorm to hang out for a bit, but he wasn’t there. Not sure where he is at this time of night either,” Aomine sighed. He had been hoping to stay over in Kuroko’s dorm for an impromptu sleepover, something he did fairly regularly, and was really disappointed when he found no one there.

Ah, he’d have to think of something for that later then. “Perhaps it would have been a better plan to call him before going so that you would know for sure that he would be there to hang out with.”

“Phone died,” Aomine pulled out his phone, showing it to Phantom, “Besides, he wouldn’t have minded. He’s an awesome guy like that, always letting me be selfish and shit.”

“Well then I’m sure he wouldn’t want you getting yourself into trouble. Try to be a bit more careful next time.” Kuroko replied.

“Ah, yeah...” Aomine awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “He’d totally lecture me about this. Mind keeping this just our little secret?”

Kuroko smiled at him and made a motion of zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

“Sweet.” Aomine relaxed a bit, the atmosphere with Phantom feeling oddly familiar. Aomine pushed the thought aside, telling himself it was probably because he worked with Phantom so much. Aomine wracked his brain for something to talk about, knowing his apartment was just around the corner but not wanting to part with Phantom just yet. “So uh… Do you have anyone like that? Y’know like a super good friend?”

Kuroko nodded. “I do. He's really great. He doesn't know about this whole Phantom thing though, so I hope he doesn't try anything like you did tonight with your friend.”

Aomine nodded. He could understand someone not telling their best friend about their double life. He did it himself. “Yeah… I get that. Puts him in danger and all that stuff. Can’t blame him if he wants to hang out with you though.”

“Guess not. I'd still want him to stay safe, just like I want you to stay safe. So promise me you'll be more careful?” He looked up at Aomine imploringly as they stopped in front of his apartment building.

“Can’t promise that, but I’ll probably try.” Aomine looked at his apartment and then back at Phantom and pooled his courage together for what he was going to do. “So… this might be creepy and you can totally like reject me and stuff but…” Aomine leaned down and pressed his lips to Phantom’s.

Kuroko froze for a moment before he found himself kissing back, wrapping his arms around Aomine’s shoulders. He shouldn’t have. He knew he shouldn’t have. Aomine wouldn’t want to do this if he knew who he was under the mask, but he’d been wanting to kiss Aomine for so long he couldn’t help indulging for a moment.

In his mind, Aomine could hear cheers of victory going off. Phantom was letting him kiss him! Phantom was _kissing him back!_ He wrapped his arms around Phantom’s waist, pulling him flush against him.

Kuroko continued to kiss back for a little bit longer before making himself pull back. “I should - I should go . . .”

“I-um… D-do you have to?” Aomine mumbled, still a little dazed.

“I should.” Kuroko repeated. “Gotta make sure that no one else is getting into trouble, and all that.”

“Oh. Okay then. I guess you’re right.” Aomine still didn’t find it in him to let go of Phantom, despite his words, keeping his arms securely around him. He also may or may not have been pouting.

“Besides, it’s not safe for you to be seen with me like this.” Kuroko added to try and prompt Aomine to let go of him.

Aomine leaned his forehead against Phantom’s, his pout still prominent, “I almost don’t care about that right now.”

“I do.” Kuroko told him firmly.

Aomine made a sound between a whine and a groan before sighing. He pecked Phantom’s lips twice before mumbling a quiet “Okay” against them, still reluctant to let go.

“You’ve got to let go of me, Aomine-san.” Kuroko reminded him when he still wasn’t able to step away.

Aomine was tempted to sigh again but relented, letting go of Phantom and taking a step away. “Thanks for -uh- letting me do that.”

“No problem. It was nice.” Kuroko said before disappearing from sight and starting to leave, hoping that Aomine hadn’t caught a glimpse of his blush.

Aomine felt like he was dreaming as he swiveled around to head into his apartment. Phantom had thought it was _nice._ That meant he _liked the kiss._ Aomine had kissed his crush and his crush _liked it._

* * *

The minute Aomine spotted Kuroko the next day, he ran at full speed towards him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Tetsu! Tetsu where the fuck were you last night?! So much happened last night! I think I might’ve died last night and went to heaven for a bit!”

Kuroko blinked wide eyes at Aomine, not having seen him coming until Aomine almost knocked him over. “I went on a coffee run, but other than that I was in my room. Aomine-kun what are you doing?”

“What do you mean ‘what am I doing’? I’m freaking out to my best friend about how fucking crazy my night was! I fucking _met Phantom!_ I _kissed Phantom!_ Tetsu! So many things happened!” Aomine was shaking Kuroko slightly from his excitement.

Kuroko put his hands on Aomine’s shoulders to try and steady himself as Aomine shook him. “Slow down. What? Explain.”

Aomine took a deep breath to calm himself and stopped shaking Kuroko. “Last night while I was walking home I _met Phantom!_ ”

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. “And what were you doing that prompted Phantom to not just keep walking unseen?”

“What? Uhh… That’s not important?” Aomine sheepishly laughed and tried to shift the subject, “But like he let me kiss him! And he kissed me back! And his lips are really, really soft!”

“I think it’s important. You were in danger, weren’t you? You can tell me all about the kiss after, but what were you doing that got him to stop and talk to you?”

Aomine awkwardly laughed and let go of Kuroko to avoid his eyes, “Why would I be in danger? I was just walking home.”

“Why did Phantom interact with you then? He only shows himself when someone’s in danger.”

“He just saw me walking home? And came to talk to me?” He didn’t sound convincing even to his own ears.

Kuroko just looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“Okay! Okay, so maybe some asshole tried to mug me, but I’m totally fine! See!” Aomine gestured towards all of himself, hoping Kuroko would let him get away with it since he was fine.

Kuroko let out a small sigh. “Okay. Fine. You’re okay. You can keep talking about Phantom then.”

Aomine practically latched himself back onto Kuroko with refound excitement, “Yeah, yeah! So like Phantom saved me! Even though I probably could’ve taken that guy on by myself, ‘cause he didn’t look so tough, and let’s be real, I’m pretty strong, but like HE SAVED ME! And then he fucking walked me home! HE WALKED ME HOME, TETSU!” Aomine was shaking Kuroko due to his excitement again, he just didn’t know how to express it in any other way. “AND THEN! And then, I KISSED HIM! And I totally thought he was gonna push me away but no. HE FUCKING KISSED ME BACK! TETSU! I KISSED PHANTOM AND HE KISSED ME BACK!”

Kuroko looked mildly uncomfortable with the shaking, but knew that protesting it wouldn’t really get him anywhere, so he just dealt with it for the moment. “That’s great, Aomine-kun. I’m really happy for you.” He made himself give Aomine a tiny smile.

Aomine stopped shaking Kuroko, feeling his rush of energy and excitement die down a bit from finally being able to get the story out. “I’m surprised he let me do it too. I was a fucking idiot around him. Like worse than Kagami stupid.”

“Maybe he thought it was cute? Some people react that way to acting dumb around your crush.” Kuroko suggested.

“I sure as hell hope so.” Aomine let go of Kuroko’s shoulders to wrap an arm around it, finally realizing that he had practically jumped onto Kuroko in the middle of their university campus and that people were staring. He lead Kuroko in a random, general direction to get away from the eyes on them. “Oh! And get this, he said the kiss was _nice!_ That means he liked it, right? It means that he liked me kissing him, right?!”

“Aomine-kun, my class is that way . . .” Kuroko said pointing in the opposite direction of the way Aomine was leading him. “But yes. That would usually mean that someone enjoyed the kiss.”

“Oh, right.” Aomine made a U-turn, leading Kuroko back in the direction of his class. “But man, was last night crazy. That kiss was amazing, Tetsu. I really hope you get to kiss that guy you like soon, ‘cause that was like, the best feeling ever.” Aomine was sure that if he thought about it any longer, he’d end up back on cloud nine.

“I don’t think that will be happening. I think he found someone else.” Kuroko answered, forcing a smile. Granted that someone else was still him, but not in the way he wanted. “But I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, Aomine-kun. Please try not to get into danger next time though.”

Aomine’s smile dropped just from the face Kuroko was giving him. Kuroko may have been good at hiding his emotions from everyone else, but Aomine was Kuroko’s best friend, and he could spot the difference between Kuroko’s fake smile and his real one from a mile away. “Wait, what happened? How could this dude find someone else better than you? You’re the greatest he could probably ever get.”

“Aomine-kun, it’s fine. Nothing was happening there anyway. I told you already that he wasn’t interested.” Kuroko said, waving off his concern. “You keep talking. It’s not very often that someone gets to kiss a superhero after all.”

“No. I’ve pretty much gotten everything about last night off my chest. Now it’s your turn. You never talk to me about shit that upsets you and that’s kinda unfair when you let me spill my guts to you.” Aomine kept a vice grip on Kuroko’s shoulder to make sure he wouldn’t run away like he knew he would.

“I much prefer hearing you talk about your problems than talking about my own.” Kuroko frowned when he tried to get out from under Aomine’s arm to no avail.

Aomine frowned down at Kuroko, “But it’s shitty that you don’t talk to me about your own. Like I feel like _Eyebrows_ knows more about your problems than I do and I hate that. You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that!” Kuroko said hastily. “I told you that Kagami-kun figured it out. I didn’t tell him anything about it. He just walked up to me one morning and informed me that I had bad taste in men and then kept walking towards the dorm’s kitchen.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just...” Aomine paused, trying to think of a good way to piece together what he wanted to say without it sounding dumb, “It feels kinda shitty that I don’t know something important like that about you.”

Kuroko sighed, stopping in front of his class. He was still early, so he couldn’t try to get out of this conversation with that excuse. “He goes here, and he doesn’t know that I like him so I hear about the person that he likes all the time. That’s how I know that he isn’t interested in me, and that’s fine because he seems really happy when he talks about the other person, and that’s what I care about most. That he is happy.”

Aomine was slightly taken aback. He hadn’t expected Kuroko to cave so quickly. He definitely hadn’t expected Kuroko to just give him a barrage of information about the guy. “Oh. Well damn. I’m sorry, buddy.” Aomine’s grip on Kuroko’s shoulder loosened to awkwardly rub it in an attempt to comfort him. “Y’know what though? I don’t think he deserves you. If he doesn’t see how awesome you are, then he’s blind and you could do better.”

Kuroko could almost laugh at the irony of Aomine being the one telling him this, but decided against it and just smiled at him instead. “Thank you, Aomine-kun. But it’s fine, really. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Yes I do, but I can drop it for now.” Aomine dropped his arm from around Kuroko, freeing him from more interrogation.

“I don’t like the ‘for now’. Can we just drop it forever? Feelings aren’t my thing.”

Aomine directed a small teasing smile towards Kuroko, “Not a chance.”

Kuroko’s shoulders slumped. “I need new friends.” He lamented.

Aomine playfully ruffled Kuroko’s hair, “Too bad, you’re stuck with me.”

* * *

Aomine was making his third lap around the city during his patrolling when he noticed something move despite no one moving it. He quickly stopped in front of the object and stared at it with confusion, “Phantom?”

Kuroko had been trying to move away from the other hero, but it seemed he’d been caught when he tripped, so he became visible again. “Hello, Blue.” He replied.

“Uh, heya,” Aomine awkwardly waved. He wasn’t too sure how to act around Phantom anymore, after being able to kiss him. He did feel a little more comfortable having the mask compared to the other night though. “You, uh, patrolling too?”

Kuroko nodded. “I didn’t really have anything else to do tonight, so I figured I’d go out and make sure everything was safe around here.”

“Ahh yeah. The city’s pretty quiet tonight though. I was just making a third run around.”

“Third? Maybe I should just go home then . . .” Kuroko mused, glancing in the direction of the college campus he had just left.

Aomine followed the line of sight realizing it was in the direction of the university he went to. “Wait, do you go to Teiko Uni too?”

Kuroko’s eyes widened, and he quickly looked away and back to Blue Lightning. “No.” He said firmly.

“Y’know, it’s fine to tell me that you do. Like twenty thousand people go there. I’m not gonna end up finding you and vice versa. It’s just kinda cool that we go to the same school.” Aomine strolled in the direction towards the university beside Phantom. Maybe he could visit Kuroko if he was already going to head there anyway.

“... Yes, I go here.” Kuroko said hesitantly. “Do you live on campus as well?”

“Nah. I live in an apartment a few blocks away from it.” Aomine might as well have lived there though from the amount of times he’s stayed the night in Kuroko’s room.

Kuroko nodded. “Okay. How far are you planning on walking with me?” He asked when they reached the entrance to the campus.

“Well, I’m guessing you’re gonna say no to me joining you in your bed,” Aomine gave him a playful look, “So I guess I’ll stop here.”

“You would be correct in your guess.” Kuroko replied. “I’ll see you around, Blue.” He waved and then disappeared, heading towards his dorm.

Aomine turned once Phantom disappeared and sped back to his apartment to change, only to head back towards the university campus the second he was done. He was there and back in a matter of minutes. He knocked on Kuroko’s door and leaned back against the wall across from it.

Kuroko could guess who was knocking at his door considering the time of night. He’d been in the middle of changing into pajamas, so he quickly hid away his hero outfit and answered the door despite the fact that he’d only managed to pull on shorts so far. “Hello, Aomine-kun.” He greeted.

Aomine felt his breath hitch for just a moment at the sight of Kuroko, shirtless and wearing shorts much shorter than he was used to seeing. “H-hey Tetsu. Y-you been hanging out with volleyball players lately? Those aren’t your usual basketball shorts.” Aomine was a little shocked by how distracted he was by seeing Kuroko so...naked.

“Huh . . . Oh.” Kuroko looked down at the shorts he pulled on. “Yeah, these are from the volleyball player next door. They were a Christmas present, and it’s only just getting hot enough to wear them.”

“Oh. They look nice.” Aomine had a feeling that the minute Kuroko turned around, Aomine would have a new problem of keeping his hands off his best friend. His bare chest was almost just as bad.

“Thanks.” Kuroko said with a small smile. “Come on in, I’ll throw on a shirt.” He said, moving towards his closet.

Aomine had been right. The sight of Kuroko’s ass in those volleyball shorts made him seriously question how he saw Kuroko. Not only his ass but how messy his hair was from him changing and how smooth his skin was that made Aomine just want to touch it. He mindlessly followed the impulse moving closer to Kuroko flattening a palm over the middle of Kuroko’s back, feeling his soft skin.

Kuroko jumped slightly, turning around to face Aomine with wide eyes.

Realization of how stupid his actions were hit Aomine as soon as Kuroko’s eyes were on him. _Shit._ “I-uh-I can explain?” He really didn’t think he could, but that was all he could think of to say.

Kuroko continued to look at him, waiting for this explanation, blush slowly forming on his face.

“Well like, your skin!” Aomine may have exclaimed that more excitedly than he had meant to, “It just looks… really smooth and soft. And… it is.”

Kuroko blinked a few times, waiting for more explanation than that, because that wasn’t much of an explanation at all.

“I just kinda, maybe, wanted to see how soft. Sorry. It was creepy and weird. I’ll go sit on my hands now.” Aomine walked over to Kuroko’s bed plopping down on it, sitting on his hands.

Kuroko stared for a moment longer, before turning back to his closet and pulling out a shirt that had, at one time, belonged to Aomine, but had been in his dorm so long it was basically his now, pulling it over his head. The shirt was so long on him it made it almost look like he wasn’t wearing pants at all.

If Aomine’s crisis of how he felt about his best friend wasn’t already bad, the sight of him wearing his shirt with it looking as if he wasn’t wearing any pants definitely made it worse. “Tetsu, why do you have my shirt?”

“Because you left it here and never took it back, so it’s my shirt now.” Kuroko replied, sitting next to him on the bed.

Aomine’s eyes didn’t stop roaming up and down over Kuroko, “It’s kinda big on you, but you can keep it. Looks better on you anyway.”

Kuroko shifted under Aomine’s gaze. “Should- um, should I wear something else?”

“No!” Aomine forced himself to look back up at Kuroko’s face, “ No, I’m okay. It just looks good on you.”

Kuroko wasn’t sure how to deal with this. Aomine was showing open interest in him for the first time, but he couldn’t be sure if it was interest in _him_ or interest in his lack of clothing. He didn’t want to show interest back if it was just the second one, but he didn’t want to brush him off either in case it was the first. “Aomine-kun, you’ve seen me undressed before. We used to change in locker rooms together.” He reminded him.

“I know, I know. There’s just something… different now. I’m just being dumb.” Aomine laid down on Kuroko’s bed on the side he always took when he slept over. However with the new developments, he didn’t know if it was smart for him to be sleeping in the same bed as Kuroko.

Kuroko bit his lip indecisively for a moment, before nodding and laying down next to Aomine.

Aomine’s eyes were automatically drawn to the sight of Kuroko’s white teeth nibbling on his lower lip. Maybe sleeping in the same bed with Kuroko really wasn’t the best idea for him, not that that motivated him in anyway to move off.

“So, what prompted you to come over so late anyway? We’re just going to sleep.” Kuroko said, pulling the blankets completely over himself.

Aomine mirrored Kuroko’s action pulling the blanket over himself, but only up to his chest, “What? I can’t have a random sleepover with you?” Aomine playfully tugged on the blanket to make it uncover Kuroko’s head.

“Not if you do that.” Kuroko pulled the blanket back up, curling up under it.

“Why not?” Aomine smirked, pulling at it again.

“It's rude.” Kuroko insisted, tugging the blanket and pulling it off of Aomine as well, cocooning himself in it.

Aomine almost didn’t care. Almost. “But it’s fair. You do that everytime I sleep over. You hog the blanket in your sleep.”

“It's my blanket.” Kuroko reminded him, peeking out of his blanket cocoon just enough for his eyes to be visible.

Not for the first time that night, Aomine felt his breath hitch from the sight of Kuroko, “Yeah, well you’re not allowed to hog it just because you’re being cute.” Aomine halfheartedly tried to pull some of the blanket back.

“I disagree.” Kuroko replied, keeping a firm grip on the blanket to keep Aomine from stealing it.

“You’re a jerk.” Aomine gave up on trying to get the blanket from Kuroko and instead wrapped his arms and legs around the cocoon that Kuroko made himself and pulled him closer, stealing Kuroko’s warmth.

“You know, you complain a lot about the blanket. You could just bring one with you.” Kuroko told him.

“That means I’d have to carry a blanket all the way _to school._ And it’s pretty warm like this.” Aomine snuggled closer to the cocoon.

“You've carried stranger things here.” Kuroko pointed out, eyes closing.

Aomine lowered his voice to a volume where he wouldn't bug Kuroko if he happened to be talking and Kuroko fell asleep, “Like what?”

“Like the chair in the corner that I definitely didn't buy.” Kuroko replied quietly. “I think you said your parents gave it to you and that you didn't want it.”

Right. The stupid chair his parents told him he needed. It was probably the most uncomfortable thing they’d ever given him. “That’s different. That was me giving you something. If I kept a blanket here it’d pretty much become yours too and then you’d have two blankets to hog.”

“Exactly. That’s why you should bring it. So that I have two blankets.” Kuroko said with a sleepy laugh.

“Now you’re just being greedy.” Aomine shifted his hold on the Kuroko cocoon, hugging it as if it were a giant pillow, which happened to angle his face close enough to being buried in Kuroko’s hair.

“I am trying to stay warm. There is nothing wrong with that.” Kuroko argued.

From his close proximity, Aomine was a little more distracted by the scent of Kuroko’s hair than he would ever admit. It wasn’t even as if he’d never been close enough to Kuroko to have not smelt it before so Aomine found it increasingly weird and worrying that he not only noticed it now but liked it a lot. “It’s almost summer. You aren’t gonna get that cold.”

“I know, I know, but . . . shhhh. I’m too tired to argue this properly. You should just bring me another blanket.”

Aomine scoffed lightly, “Maybe if you keep being a jerk like this, I’ll bring a few.”

Kuroko mumbled something that was probably confirmation that Aomine should do that, but he was clearly drifting towards sleep, so the words didn’t quite come out as more than just sounds.

Aomine could only smile as he watched Kuroko drift off to sleep, and once again he was confronted with the odd fact that he probably enjoyed this type of thing they do a lot more than a regular friend would. Had his problem just stayed with the physical attraction like it had started when he first arrived, he would’ve shrugged it off as him being dumb around his hot best friend and thinking with his dick. It happened sometimes. Usually Kuroko was more dressed when it happened. But it didn’t stay at that and that was the problem. And the more he thought about seeing Kuroko in that way he really couldn’t think of a reason to not like him more than just a friend.

It was weird because he still liked Phantom just as much as he did before this dumb problem but now he liked someone else just as much as he liked Phantom. But that someone else just happened to be his best friend, someone he knew liked someone else and even if he didn’t, Aomine wasn’t sure he wanted to ruin the relationship they already had. Clinging onto Kuroko like he was at the moment didn’t help in his crisis either. He decided it was probably better to think about this stuff at a time he wasn’t with Kuroko. He pushed aside the thoughts and closed his eyes in an attempt to let sleep take over.

* * *

“Aomine-kun, I can’t move.” Kuroko mumbled when he woke up. At some point in the night he had ended up half under Aomine, legs tangled together, and trapped in his arms, and now it was morning and he needed to get up and get coffee before he had to go to class.

“Deal with it. I‘m comfy,” Aomine mumbled into Kuroko’s hair, not bothering to even open his eyes. It was still too early for that.

“I have class.” Kuroko protested, moving around to try and get out from under Aomine.

“Skip it. I’m not moving until eleven.” Aomine hugged himself closer to Kuroko, burying his face in Kuroko’s hair.

“I don’t want to skip class. I make good grades because I _don’t_ do that.”

“Tetsuuuuu!” Aomine whined, still reluctant to do anything that involved moving.

“Daikiiiiiii.” Kuroko replied.

Aomine felt his heart skip a beat and cracked an eye open to look down at Kuroko. “No. Being cute is cheating. Stop it.”

“I will not. I want to go to class.” Kuroko told him stubbornly.

Aomine groaned exasperatedly loudly as he rolled over onto his back, freeing Kuroko from his arms.

Kuroko dragged himself out of the bed, taking the blanket with him like a cape, and went to his coffee maker.

Aomine proceeded to whine even louder, “Don’t take _all_ the warmth with you! Come back! Gimme some too!”

“No.” Kuroko said simply, starting up the coffee maker.

Aomine sighed loudly, giving up in his attempts for warmth and sleep, feeling much too awake now. He turned onto his side to watch Kuroko stare at his coffee machine like it was his lifeline. His gaze wandered over Kuroko, just as it had the night before, lingering on Kuroko’s bare legs for much longer than was appropriate.

“Do you want any coffee, or are you just going to stay here and sleep?” Kuroko asked when the coffee was finally done, pouring some into a mug for himself before dumping some sugar into it.

“Probably not going to sleep anymore. I’m pretty awake now,” Aomine mumbled, still staring at Kuroko, “Might just laze around here though.”

“So, that’s a no to the coffee?” Kuroko asked, turning around to face Aomine and raising an eyebrow when he noticed the staring.

Aomine’s immediately shot back up to Kuroko’s face, acting as though he was completely innocent. “Nah, I’m good without your sugar water with a hint of coffee.”

“You don’t have to put sugar in yours. I understand that you don’t have a soul.” Kuroko said with a roll of his eyes, before he started to sip at his coffee.

“I have a soul! It just doesn’t need to be drowned in sugar. But yeah, I’m good without coffee for now.”

“Sure thing, soulless.” Kuroko finished off his coffee before going to his closet and picking out a pair of jeans and a shirt to wear to class, putting the cup and blanket down to change.

“Not soulless,” Aomine distractedly mumbled. He knew he shouldn’t have watched, not with such great attention as he was, and definitely not with his new found interest in Kuroko. But he did. He watched his best friend strip himself down to his boxers with much more attention than was normal for a friend.

Kuroko poured himself another cup of coffee when he was dressed, drinking it quickly before picking up his bookbag. “Alright, I’ve got to go. Have fun.” He was at least nice enough to throw the blanket on top of Aomine on his way out.

Aomine halfheartedly waved and waited for Kuroko to disappear behind the door to flop back down on his back with another loud groan, this time for an entirely different reason. “Stop being so gay for your best friend, Daiki. It’s bad for you,” he said out loud in hopes that it might sound more convincing than in his head. It didn’t, which only caused Aomine to groan again and throw the pillow over his face.

* * *

Kuroko was usually very good at keeping track of his surroundings. Considering people had trouble noticing him he kind of had to be.

There were times when he slipped up on that though. Unfortunately, this time, it was while crossing the street. To be fair, he should have been fine. He was in the crosswalk, and the cars shouldn’t have been going because of the red light, but he dropped something from one of his grocery bags and looked up to see a car speeding towards him, and it was already too close to actually move, so all he could do was stare at it with wide eyes.

Aomine had been doing a casual patrol of the city, more or less looking for something to do. He hadn’t expected to pass by Kuroko and definitely didn’t expect to find him in the situation he was in. Worry and fear rushed through him as he acted purely on instinct. “Tetsu!” he called out as he raced towards Kuroko, grabbing him from around the waist to push him out of the way of the car speeding towards him.

Due to his haste and speed he tripped once he got to the other side of the street with Kuroko in his hands. He took most of the shock from the fall, managing to shield Kuroko from any pain by landing on his back with Kuroko on top of him.

Kuroko stared down at Blue Lightning with wide eyes. “You called me Tetsu. Only one person calls me that.” He said quietly.

Aomine’s eyes widened at the realization of his mistake, “I-I um...” He couldn’t think of anything. He had no excuse, no preplanned lies, he couldn’t even run away with Kuroko on top of him.

“Aomine-kun?”

Aomine really wanted to panic, to run away and probably avoid Kuroko for the next decade. But he couldn’t. He hated himself so much at the moment for having stupidly fallen and trapping himself underneath Kuroko. “Um… hey Tetsu…” he responded lamely.

Kuroko continued to stare at him with wide eyed surprise, not saying anything for a moment before slowly getting to his feet and holding out his hand to help Aomine up.

Aomine hesitantly took the offered hand, carefully avoiding Kuroko’s eyes. “So… I’m not gonna be able to run away, am I?”

“I . . . I think we should talk.” Kuroko answered. “Maybe not here.” He added as he noticed people staring at them.

“Yeah… probably not. I hope you don’t kill me after this but...” he scooped Kuroko up into his arms, whispering a quiet, “hang on,” before speeding off in the direction of Kuroko’s dorm.

Kuroko felt a little dizzy when they reached his dorm from the speed. “Please, please don’t do that again.”

Aomine gently placed Kuroko down onto his bed before taking off his mask. “Thought it would be easier than you walking through the city with an asshole wearing a blue lightning bolt on his chest.”

“I do it often enough.” Kuroko muttered, getting up and walking to his closet, going to the very back of it and pulling out his hero outfit, only bothering to put on the mask to give Aomine the idea.

Aomine’s eyes widened marginally before he just shut them and collapsed on Kuroko’s bed with a loud groan. “I hate you,” he grumbled out, staring at the ceiling, “And I hate me, and I hate that we’re both so fuckign stupid.”

He took the mask back off and laid down next to Aomine. “This is ridiculous.”

“Sure as fuck is.” At least this made Aomine’s worries about liking two different people a whole lot easier. The only problem now was that it was still his best friend. Aomine thought back to the night he had met Phantom… Kuroko dressed as Phantom when some guy tried to mug him and his eyebrows knit together as he started putting together hints and clues Kuroko had given him. Of course he still couldn’t be sure. “Hey, Tetsu… why did you let me kiss you?”

“You’re not as dumb as Kagami-kun likes to say. Why do you think I let you kiss me?” Kuroko wasn’t looking at Aomine, and he was sure his face was red enough to match Akashi’s hair.

Aomine blindly searched on the bed for Kuroko’s hand, lacing their fingers together as he turned his head to look at Kuroko. “Can you prove me right then?”

Kuroko hesitated, but turned to face Aomine as well. “That depends. Do you want me to just because I’m Phantom?”

Aomine brought up his other hand to stroke Kuroko’s cheek, his eyes turning soft. “Y’know, I’ve been thinking about shit a lot, and the other day y’know what I was pretty surprised about? I was thinking that it was weird that I could have fallen for two people, and that if there was someone as brave and cool as Phantom, but as caring and loyal as you, they’d be the perfect person.”

Kuroko gave him a tiny smile. “Then I’ll try and prove you right.” He said before leaning forward and kissing Aomine.

Aomine turned onto his side, letting go of Kuroko’s hand to wrap it around his waist and pull him closer. This kiss felt different from their first one. Aomine wasn’t too sure how, but it felt somehow… better. Aomine rolled them so that he was on top, parting from Kuroko only when air became a necessity. He followed it up with a gentle kiss to Kuroko’s cheek then forehead. “Next time, the perfect guy should just tell me shit so I don’t go through another dumb crisis.”

“You didn't tell me either!” Kuroko reminded him. “You just went on and on about Phantom. Until you started acting weird the other day I had no reason to think that you liked _me_.”

“But you _are_ Phantom! If I liked him so much, sooner or later I was gonna realize that I liked you just as much, if not more.” Aomine lightly bit at Kuroko’s collarbone as a small act of retaliation, “Telling me woulda just sped up the process.”

A tiny gasp left Kuroko at the contact from Aomine’s teeth, but he made himself stay focused on the conversation. “If I were enough like Phantom for that logic to make sense you would have figured it out without me telling you.” He argued.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Aomine rested his forehead against Kuroko’s and affectionately looked down at him. “I somehow fell for all the things about Phantom that didn’t really make it obvious that it was you. Like how fearless you are, even when you’re up against someone twice your size, or how passionate you are about the things you care about, or how it’s weirdly hot when you’re all sassy.”

Aomine leaned down to peck Kuroko’s lips before continuing, “It’s actually weird that I didn’t fall for you first since I also get to see the cute sides of Kuroko Tetsuya too. Like when you’re cutely embarrassed and act all shy and blushy.”

“You will be seeing a lot less of that. I can turn invisible around you now. Save myself some embarrassment.” He muttered.

“But it’s cute. I like it.” Aomine placed chaste kisses on Kuroko’s cheek and neck before simply burying his face in the crook between his neck and shoulder.

“I know you do. You tell me so every time it happens.” Kuroko said, rolling his eyes.

“Well sorry for thinking my cute boyfriend is cute,” Aomine muttered against Kuroko’s shoulder.

“Boyfriend, huh? We haven't even had a first date,” Kuroko teased.

Aomine lifted himself back up to meet Kuroko’s eyes once more, “Do we really need to? It’s probably gonna end up being what we end up doing after school everyday.”

“No, we don't need to.” Kuroko leaned up and pecked Aomine on the lips.

“‘Kay. Then I’m gonna say that our first date was making out in your bed.” And with that Aomine connected their lips again in a heated kiss.


End file.
